Stair system and manufacturing

ABSTRACT

In one implementation, a stair system disclosed herein allows for efficient manufacturing and installation of stairs. The stair system includes a stair comprising a plurality of steps, a lower landing rotatably attached to the bottom of the stair, and an upper landing rotatably attached to the top of the stair, wherein each of the upper landing and the lower landing are configured to be attached to vertical posts.

SUMMARY

This application is a non-provisional application based on and claimspriority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/552,476 entitled“Stair System and Manufacturing” filed on Aug. 31, 2017, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Otherfeatures, details, utilities, and advantages of the claimed subjectmatter will be apparent from the following more particular writtenDetailed Description of various implementations and implementations asfurther illustrated in the accompanying drawings and defined in theappended claims.

Implementations described herein provide a stair system that allows forefficient manufacturing and installation of stairs. The stair systemincludes a stair comprising a plurality of steps, a lower landingrotatably attached to the bottom of the stair, and an upper landingrotatably attached to the top of the stair, wherein each of the upperlanding and the lower landing are configured to be attached to verticalposts.

Brief Descriptions of the Drawings

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the presenttechnology may be realized by reference to the figures, which aredescribed in the remaining portion of the specification. In the figures,like reference numerals are used throughout several figures to refer tosimilar components. In some instances, a reference numeral may have anassociated sub-label consisting of a lower-case letter to denote one ofmultiple similar components. When reference is made to a referencenumeral without specification of a sub-label, the reference is intendedto refer to all such multiple similar components.

FIG. 1 illustrates a three-dimensional view of an example stairdisclosed herein with stair railings.

FIG. 2 illustrates an alternate three-dimensional view of the examplestair disclosed herein from a bottom perspective.

FIG. 3 illustrates a three-dimensional view of an example stairdisclosed herein without stair railings.

FIG. 4 illustrates a three-dimensional view of an example stairdisclosed herein without stair railings and support posts.

FIG. 5 illustrates a three-dimensional view of an example stairdisclosed herein without stair railings and a first landing.

FIG. 6 illustrates an expanded view of joint between a stair and a lowerstair landing.

FIG. 7 illustrates an expanded view of joint between a stair and anupper stair landing.

FIG. 8 illustrates an alternate view of a stair with upper and lowerstair landings.

FIG. 9 illustrates a view of a stair connected with the upper and lowerstair landings and laid out in a flat position.

FIG. 10 illustrates an alternative view of landings of the stairdisclosed herein.

FIG. 11 illustrates an illustration of a connection between a stairlanding to a post.

FIG. 12 illustrates an illustration of a connection of between two stairlandings.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example expanded view of the internal componentsof a landing of a stair system disclosed herein.

FIG. 14 illustrates yet alternative example views of a staircasetogether with an upper landing, a lower landing and posts.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example expanded view of a connection between apost and a support beam for a stair landing.

FIG. 16 illustrates an alternate view of a stair with upper and lowerstair landings.

FIG. 16 illustrates an expanded view of the steps of the stair disclosedherein near a lower landing.

FIG. 18 illustrates an expanded view of the steps of the stair disclosedherein near an upper landing.

FIG. 19 illustrates operations during design and manufacturing of thestair system disclosed herein.

FIG. 20 illustrates example views of components of stair assembly duringits installation.

FIG. 21 illustrates example sequence of operations for installation ofthe stair system disclosed herein

FIG. 22 illustrates an alternative example sequence of operations forinstallation of the stair system disclosed herein.

FIG. 23 illustrates an alternative example sequence of operations forinstallation of the stair system disclosed herein.

FIG. 24 illustrates yet alternative example sequence of operations forinstallation of the stair system disclosed herein.

FIG. 25 illustrates various example views of stair assembly and itsconnections during various states of its installation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS

In designing and engineering a building's structure, many differentassemblies (walls, columns, beams, bracing, strapping, and the fastenersthat fasten them together) may be needed to form the building'sstructure and to manage loads and forces. The assemblies may bestandardized through a limited number of uniquely designed standardizedwall panels, trusses, fasteners, and other framing components, which maybe manufactured using an automated technique such as by roll formingsteel sheets. This unique and standardized assembly of elements may beused to form the building's structure and may effectively support loadsand forces. Furthermore, these standardized assemblies may be useful inreducing the cost and time in designing such buildings. In multi-storyresidential or commercial buildings, standardized stairwells may beformed by these standardized components. As such, standardizedstaircases may be configured to fit in the standardized stairwells. Thestaircases may be pre-fabricated before the staircases are installed inthe building.

In the implementations described herein, a staircase and a method forinstalling the staircase is provided that allows the staircase to beroughly positioned relative to specific anchor point in a stairwell. Thebracket provides a hanger tool with positioning bolts that may be usedto accurately position the staircase relative to the specific anchorpoints. Once the staircase is accurately positioned, the staircase isanchored to the stairwell wall using the bracket and pre-installedbolts, and the hanger tool with the positioning bolt may be removed.These implementations are described further with respect to thefollowing figures.

Furthermore, the stair system disclosed herein is highly standardized,which allows the method disclosed herein to make the entire process ofdesign, manufacturing, and installation highly efficient. Specifically,the standardized components of the stair and the railings, allowsadjusting stringer length of the stair based on floor-to-floor heightswhere the stair system is being installed, adjusting tread length andrise height based on floor-to-floor height and stair length, while stillkeeping the stair parameters in compliance with applicable safety codes,adjusting width of the landings based on dimensions of a stair towerwhere the stair system is to be installed, etc. Furthermore, thestandardized nature of the components of the stair system also allowscalculating structural loads carried by stair system as well asstructural columns to which the stair system is attached to. One or morecomputer instructions is capable of producing shop drawings of buildingincluding the stair for review by building departments, contractors,etc.

FIG. 1 illustrates a three-dimensional view of an example stair system100 disclosed herein with stair railings. The stair system 100 mayinclude stairs 102 a and 102 b that are detachably and rotatablyconnected to a first upper landing 110, a lower landing 112, and asecond upper landing 114. Specifically, the stairs 102 a and 102 b haveseveral steps 104. The stair 102 a is detachably and rotatably connectedat one end to the first upper landing 110 and at a second end to thelower landing 112. The lower landing 112 is detachably connected to thesecond upper landing 114, which is detachably attached to the stair 102b.

Each of the landings 110, 112, 114 may be attached to columns or posts120 (120 a, 120 b, 120 c, 120 d) via supporting beams 130 a and 130 b.Furthermore, railings 140 and 142 may also be detachably attached to thestairs 102 a and 102 b and the posts 120. Providing a plurality ofcomponents, such as the stairs, the landings, the posts, the supportingbeams, and the railings so that they may be detachably attached to eachother allows for flexible and efficient installation of the stair system100. For example, the posts 120 may be the posts of a stair-well and thesupporting beams 130 a and 130 b are attached to the posts 120 such thatthere is space 150 between the landings 110, 112, 114 and the posts 120,which allows adding drywall between the posts 120 and the stair system100.

In one example installation of the stair system 100, the supportingbeams 130 are attached to columns 120. Subsequently, the landings 110,112, 114 are installed and attached to the supporting beams 130. Thestairs 102, 900 including the steps 104 are attached to the landings110, 112, 114, and railings 140, 142 may be attached to the stairs 102and the landings 110, 112, 114. Subsequently, a beam (not shown) made ofconcrete or other material may be installed on the landings 110, 112,114. The first upper landing 110 may be rotatably attached to the stair102 a using a joining mechanism 160 b and the second upper landing 114may be rotatably attached to the stair 102 b using a joining mechanism160 a. In one implementation, the joining mechanisms 160 a, 160 b mayinclude a pivot hole in the middle that connects one of the stairs 102a, 102 b with one of the landings 110-114.

FIG. 2 illustrates an alternate three-dimensional view of the stairsystem 200 disclosed herein from a bottom perspective. Specifically, thestair system 200 may include stairs 204 a and 204 b that are detachablyand rotatably connected to a first upper landing 210, a lower landing212, and a second upper landing 214. Specifically, the stairs 204 a and204 b have several steps, wherein each of the steps includes a tread anda riser approximately perpendicular to each other. Each of the landings210, 212, 214 may be attached to columns or posts 220 (220 a, 220 b, 220c, 220 d) via supporting beams 230 a and 230 b. Furthermore, railings242 a, 242 b, and 242 c may also be detachably attached to the stairs204 a and 204 b and the posts 220. The railings 242 a, 242 b, and 242 cmay be used to attach a rail 244 thereto.

The first upper landing 210 may be rotatably attached to the stair 202 ausing a joining mechanism 260 b and the second upper landing 214 may berotatably attached to the stair 204 b using a joining mechanism 260 c.In one implementation, the joining mechanisms 260 b, 260 c may include apivot hole in the middle that allows to rotatably connect one of thestairs 204 a, 204 b with one of the landings 210, 212, and 214.

FIG. 3 illustrates a three-dimensional view of a stair system 300disclosed herein without stair railings. Specifically, the stair system300 may include a stair 304 that is detachably and rotatably connectedto a first upper landing 310, a lower landing 312. The lower landing 312is attached to a second upper landing 314. Specifically, the stair 304may have several steps, wherein each of the steps includes a tread 304 aand a riser 304 b approximately perpendicular to each other. Each of thelandings 310, 312, 314 may be attached to columns or posts 320 (320 a,320 b, 320 c, 320 d) via supporting beams 330 a and 330 b.

The first upper landing 310 may be rotatably attached to the stair 304using a joining mechanism 360 a and the second upper landing 314 may berotatably attached to a stair 306 using a joining mechanism 360 b. Inone implementation, the joining mechanisms 360 a, 360 b may include apivot hole in the middle that allows to rotatably connect one of thestairs 304, 306 with one of the landings 310, 312, and 314. In oneimplementation, the joining mechanisms 360 a, 360 b are provided as partof the landings 310, 312, and 314. Furthermore, the joining mechanisms360 a, 360 b may also include additional holes that are aligned withholes in a side plate 350 a, 350 b of the stairs 304, 306 and riveted toirremovably join the landings 310, 312, and 314 with the stairs 304,306. For example, the implementation disclosed in FIG. 3 includes 4 suchholes surrounding a center pivot hole.

FIG. 4 illustrates a three-dimensional view of a stair system 400disclosed herein without stair railings and support posts. Specifically,the stair system 400 may include a stair 404 that is detachably androtatably connected to a first upper landing 410, a lower landing 412.The lower landing 412 is attached to a second upper landing 414.Specifically, the stair 404 may have several steps, wherein each of thesteps includes a tread 404 a and a riser 404 b approximatelyperpendicular to each other. Each of the landings 410, 412, 414 may beattached to columns or posts via supporting beams 430 a and 430 b.Furthermore, the first upper landing 410 may be rotatably attached tothe stair 404 using a joining mechanism 460 a and the second upperlanding 414 may be rotatably attached to a stair 406 using a joiningmechanism 460 b.

FIG. 5 illustrates a three-dimensional view of a stair system 500disclosed herein without stair railings and a second landing. A lowerconnection 510 between a stair 504 and a lower landing 512 is disclosedbelow in further detail in FIG. 6. The upper connection 520 between thestair 504 and an upper landing 516 is disclosed below in further detailin FIG. 7.

Furthermore, FIG. 5 also illustrates treads 502 and risers 508 of a step506 of the stair 504 and a stringer 518 attached to the steps 506. Theupper landing 516 is attached to columns 530 a and 530 b via asupporting beam 532 a and the lower landing 512 are attached to columns530 c and 530 d via a supporting beam 532 b.

FIG. 6 illustrates an expanded view 600 of the joint between a stair 630and a lower stair landing 610. The lower stair landing 610 is supportedby a supporting beam 620 that may be connected to columns of a building.Specifically, various holes pilot 602 a, 602 b, 602 c, 602 d, etc., maybe used to connect the stair 630 and the lower stair landing 610.Additionally, various pilot holes 604 a, 604 b, 604 c, etc., may be usedto attach the lower stair landing 610 to the supporting beam 620.

FIG. 7 illustrates an expanded view 700 of the joint between a stair 710and an upper stair landing 730. The upper landing 720 is connected toand supported by a supporting beam 730. The stair 710 and the upperstair landing 730 may be rotatably attached to each other at a pivot702. This allows an assembly of the stair 710 and the upper stairlanding 730 to be aligned to each other in a plane when being deliveredfrom a manufacturing facility to a building site. Once the assembly ofthe stair 710 and the upper stair landing 730 are ready forinstallation, the stair 710 may be rotated to cause proper angle betweenthe stair 710 and the upper stair landing 730. At this angle, variouspilot holes 704 a, 704 b, 704 c, 704 d on a side plate of the upperstair landing 720 are substantially aligned to various pilot holes in aside plate 706 of the stair 710. These pilot holes 704 a, 704 b, 704 c,704 d are used to fixedly attach the stair 710 and the upper stairlanding 730.

FIG. 8 illustrates an alternate view 800 of a stair 802 with an upperlanding 804 and a lower landing 806. Specifically, the stair 802 isshown at an angle 810 to a plane of the upper landing 804 and the lowerlanding 806 such that the risers 812 of the stair 802 are substantiallyperpendicular to a horizontal surface of the building where the stairsystem 800 is being installed and the treads 814 are substantiallyparallel to the horizontal surface of the building.

FIG. 9 illustrates a view of a stair assembly 900 connected with theupper and lower stair landings and laid out in a flat position. In oneimplementation, the stair assembly 900 is loaded on a delivery truck inthe flat position as shown in FIG. 9. The stair assembly 900 includes anupper landing 904, a stair 902, and a lower landing 910 such that thestair is rotatably attached to the upper landing 904 and the lowerlanding 910. The steps 904 of the stair 902 has treads 904 a and risers904 b that are substantially perpendicular to each other. However, inthis position the treads are not parallel to the surface of the upperlanding 904 and the surface of the lower landing 910. In oneimplementation, for the stair assembly 900, each of the treads 904 a andthe risers 904 b are at substantially 45 degrees from the surface of theupper landing 904 and the surface of the lower landing 910.

The upper landing 904 is rotatably attached to the stair 902 using anupper fastening mechanism 922 whereas the lower landing 910 is rotatablyattached to the stair 902 using a lower fastening mechanism 920. Forexample, the upper fastening mechanism 922 may have a pivot sleeve 930 awith bearings that rotatably attaches the upper landing 904 to the stair902. Similarly, the lower fastening mechanism 922 may have a pivotsleeve 930 b with bearings that rotatably attaches the lower landing 910to the stair 902. When the stair assembly 900 is ready for installation,the upper stair landing 904 may be hooked to crane and lifted up in thedirection 940 to cause the stair assembly 900 to move to a position asshown by 950.

FIG. 10 illustrates an alternative view 1000 of landing 1002 of thestair system disclosed herein. A first connection 1010 between thelanding 1002 and a post 1008 c is disclosed in further detail in FIG. 11below. A second connection 1020 between the landing 1002 and a supportbeam 1030 is disclosed in further detail in FIG. 11 below. The supportbeam 1030 may be attached to another post 1008 b and the landing 1002may also be attached to a post 1008 a. The landing 1002 is also shown tobe attached to a stair 1006.

FIG. 11 illustrates an illustration of a connection 1100 between a stairlanding 1120 and a post 1102. Also illustrated is a supporting beam 1110that is attached to the post 1102.

FIG. 12 illustrates an illustration of a connection 1200 of between astair landing 1204 and a support beam 1202. Specifically, a fasteningplate 1206 may be used to attach the stair landing 1204 and the supportbeam 1202.

FIG. 13 illustrates an expanded view 1300 of the internal components ofa landing 1304 of a stair system disclosed herein. The landing 1304 isattached to a column 1302 and to a support beam 1306. Specifically, thelanding 1304 is attached to the support beam 1306 using fastening plates1310 a and 1310 b. In this implementation, the support beam 1306 has ashape of an inverted T where the two side flanges of the support beam1306 are attached to the stair landing 1304 using L shaped fasteningplates 1310 a and 1310 b.

FIG. 14 illustrates yet alternative view of a staircase 1400 togetherwith an upper landing 1410, a lower landing 1420, posts 1402 a-1042 d,and supporting beams 1430 a and 1430 b.

FIG. 15 illustrates an expanded view of a connection 1500 between a post1502 and a support beam 1504 for a stair system. The support beam 1504may be a T shaped beam with a center flange 1506 that may be attachedwith the post 1502 using a connector 1508.

FIG. 16 illustrates an alternate view of a stair assembly 1600 with anupper and lower stair landings 1606 and 1604 connected to a stair 1602having a number of steps 1608. The upper stair landing 1606 may berotatably attached to the stair 1602 using an upper connector 1610 andan opening 1620 that may be used to support the upper stair landing 1606on a support beam. The lower stair landing 1604 may be rotatablyattached to the stair 1602 using a lower connector 1622 and an opening1624 that may be used to support the upper stair landing 1606 on asupport beam.

FIG. 17 illustrates an expanded view 1700 of a stair 1704 with steps1710 near a lower stair landing 1702.

FIG. 18 illustrates an expanded view 1800 of a stair 1804 with steps1706 near an upper stair landing 1802.

FIG. 19 illustrates operations 1900 during design and manufacturing ofthe stair system disclosed herein. An operation 1902 creates a stairplaceholder in an architectural model according to the architectrequirements. An operation 1904 defines additional parameters of thestair such as preferable number of steps per level, length of thelanding, etc. These parameters are verified in real time with all thestructural and code rules to make sure that the stair's design is properand compliant with the codes. In case of non-proper input, the operation1904 informs a designer about such non-proper input and requests updatedvalue of the parameter.

An operation 1906 solves a building model with the stair parametersreceived at operation 2004. Such solving of the building model may ininvolve solving for number of floors/levels, height of each level, sizeof the shaft to hold the stair (stair-well), other parameters providedby the stair designer, etc. The operation 1906 also translates theseparameters into a string of values identifying the stair.

An operation 1908 generates posts and brackets for framing the stair.These posts and brackets are automatically located at three-dimensionallocation in the building model. The framing including the posts and thebrackets is used to support the stair.

An operation 1910 uses the string of values identifying the stair (asgenerated at operation 2006) as an input to create structural componentsof stair. Such structural components may include landings, runs, treads,railings, etc. An operation 1912 generates alphanumeric codes for eachcomponent of the stair system for manufacturing the components.Subsequently, an operation 1914 generates outputs such as 3-dimensionalstair model, shop drawings for all parts (landings, railings, etc.),shop drawings for all required assemblies, a bill of material,manufacturing files such as a standard exchange of product (STP) file,etc. For example, the operation 2012 may generate shop drawings that maybe used for fabrication of the stair components, including shop drawingsfor the stair treads, landings, railings, etc. Such shop drawings mayalso be used by building inspectors and building departments for itscompliance with appropriate safety codes and regulations. Another outputgenerated by the operation 2012 may be macro files that may becommunicated to a production machine, such as a cold roll former, tomanufacture one or more components of the stair, such as treads,landings, railings, supporting beams, etc. Such macro files allowautomation of the process of manufacturing and putting togethercomponents used in the stair system. Another output generated by theoperation 2012 may be a bill of material for the stair system.Furthermore, each component of the stair system is associated withthree-dimensional coordinates where that component is to be installed ina building.

FIG. 20 illustrates a stair assembly 2000 including a bottom flightassembly 2002, a middle flight assembly 2006, and guard rail assemblies2004 and 2008.

FIG. 21 illustrates sequence of operations 2100 for installation of thestair system disclosed herein. Specifically, at a flat state 1, alltransportation bolts are removed, hooks are fastened to both ends of astair run, and only a side of top landing is raised to the moment whenall holes at stringers and upper landings match. At a final state 2 allfinal bolts are fastened.

FIG. 22 illustrates an alternative sequence of operations 2100 forinstallation of guard rails to the stair system disclosed herein. At afinal state 3 with guard rails, guard rails are attached to the stringerof the stair and all guard rail posts besides the higher one areattached. Subsequently, they are bolted after installation at a shaft ofthe building. State 4 illustrates rise up crane trying to hold landinghorizontally.

FIG. 23 illustrates sequence of operations 2300 for installation of thestair system disclosed herein. Specifically, at a flat state 1, alltransportation bolts are removed, hooks are fastened to both ends of astair run, and only a side of top landing is raised to the moment whenall holes at stringers and upper landings match. At an intermediatestate 2, final bolts are fastened at stringers of the stair and upperlanding connections are made. At this state the assembly is raised to astate where only side of top landing to the moment when all holes atstringers and lower endings match.

FIG. 24 illustrates sequence of additional operations 2400 forinstallation of the stair system disclosed herein. At a final state 3,final bolts are fastened at stringers and lower landing connections aremade and whole assembly is put in place. At state 4, guard rails areattached to the stringer of the stair, all middle guard rail posts areattached and first and last post are bolted after installation of theassembly at the shaft of the building. Subsequently, chains are fastenedto the stringer to lower the landing connections. At state 5, chains areadjusted in way so that landings are horizontal.

FIG. 25 illustrates various views 2510, 2512, 2514, 2514, and 2518 ofstair assembly and its connections during various states of itsinstallation.

The above specification, examples, and data provide a completedescription of the structure and use of exemplary embodiments of theinvention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, the inventionresides in the claims hereinafter appended. Furthermore, structuralfeatures of the different embodiments may be combined in yet anotherembodiment without departing from the recited claims. Although thepresent invention has been described with reference to preferredembodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes maybe made in form and detail without departing from the scope of theinvention. The implementations described above and other implementationsare within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A stair system, comprising: a stair comprising aplurality of steps; a lower landing rotatably attached to the bottom ofthe stair; and an upper landing rotatably attached to the top of thestair.
 2. The stair system of claim 1, wherein each of the upper landingand the lower landing are configured to be attached to vertical posts.3. The stair system of claim 1, further comprising one or more railingsconfigured to be detachably attached to the stair, the lower landing,and the upper landing.
 4. The stair system of claim 1, the upper landingof a first level is configured to be attached to a lower landing of thesecond level, the second level being above the first level.
 5. The stairsystem of claim 4, further comprising a supporting beam configured toattach to posts and supporting at least one of a lower landing and anupper landing such that the vertical load from the at least one of alower landing and an upper landing is transferred via the supportingbeam to vertical posts.